The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has unveiled a sweeping $697
million USD ad campaign to raise public awareness about the coming
switchover to digital TV broadcasting.
Calling it "the largest volunteer effort in the history of
television," NAB board chairman Jack Sander said all major broadcast
networks and 95 independent broadcasting companies have teamed up on the
program with the aim of reaching nearly every television viewer in the United
States.
The campaign will consist of TV ads in English and Spanish, a 30-minute
educational video and text "crawls" that run at the bottom of
television screens during other programming. The ads seek to warn viewers that
all U.S. broadcasters will stop transmitting analog signals on February 18,
2009.
After that date, the only TVs that will be able to receive "over the
air" (OTA) programming via antenna will be television sets equipped with
an internal or external digital tuner capable of picking up ATSC signals. Older
analog TVs can be converted to receive ATSC programming via government-subsidized
analog-to-digital converter boxes. Beginning next January, every U.S.
household will be entitled to two $40 coupons to partly cover the cost of
buying two converter boxes.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez praised the NAB efforts. In a
prepared statement, Gutierrez said the campaign "demonstrates that
broadcasters nationwide will work to ensure that all households are aware of
the... transition, so that no consumer will lose television reception because
of a lack of information."
Consumer education efforts by industry, advocacy groups and government
entities now total more than $900 million USD according to Gutierrez.
"Industry and advocates are taking their responsibility seriously,"
he said, noting that the joint effort "far exceeds what the government
alone could accomplish.”
The digital TV transition may still go largely unnoticed by most Americans, who
have long since abandoned their rooftop antennas in favor of subscribing to
cable and satellite TV programming services. Less than 20 percent of U.S.
households currently rely on OTA antenna reception, according to a 2005 report
by the Government Accountability Office.